PLC Fall Championships

PLC RULES OF PLAY

PLC BOYS TOURNAMENT RULES –2025
*Coaches will certify that their players are properly equipped
Scoring and Time
Refs keep the game time
The table keeps the score and penalty time

Tournament Play – Pool Play (Saturday Games)
2 – 21 minutes halves
3-minute halftime
3 game guarantee (Pool Play)
No Timeouts
No Overtime
2025 NFHS Rules with modifications below

Playoff Rules (Sunday)
2 – 21 minutes halves
3-minute halftime
Playoff Games…
Teams are awarded (1) one-minute time-out per team in Regulation Time
The clock will stop. Timeout does NOT roll over to OT. No timeouts in OT
A timeout can be called when the team calling the timeout is in possession of the ball, anywhere on the field
Overtime will begin immediately and be decided by sudden victory. OT will have a Running Clock on all whistles. The first goal scored wins the game.
Injuries
Any injury within 2 minutes and under that requires the game to be stopped, and the clock stops with the injury.
For any injury with more than 2 minutes remaining when the game is stopped, a maximum of 1 minute will come off the clock to assess the injury before the clock is stopped

BOYS SPECIFIC RULES
No stick checks unless refs think a stick is outrageously illegal
4 pole maximum on the field
Mercy Rule
(applies to 2035 and below) Applied when there is a 5-goal deficit in pool play. Teams down by 5 or more goals will get a free clear after each goal. Coaches can agree to waive this rule. DOES NOT APPLY TO PLAYOFFS
Counts
30 seconds to advance the ball into the box (Pool Play and Playoffs)
2026 – 2033 Grad Years: Clearing Counts.
No Counts – 2034 Grad Year and below. Exception is a 4-second goalie count
The leading team must keep it in the box under 2 minutes if they are ahead by 4 goals or less.
If a score changes to 4 goals or less under 2 minutes, the clock will stop and start with the whistles
If teams are ahead by 5 goals or more, the clock will remain running
Checking
Limited body checking in 2031 – 2035. Big hits & physical play (even within three yards of a loose ball) constitute unnecessary roughness (90 sec penalty)
One-handed stick checks are not allowed in any youth divisions (2034 and below)

Penalties
Penalties are running time starting on the whistle (45 or 90 seconds) Penalty time stops during injuries, end of quarters, and while another penalty is being assessed.
No Crease Dives

EJECTIONS
Game ejections are handled by the referees
Tournament ejections are handled by the tournament director (2 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties warrant ejection or a 1-game suspension)

RANKINGS:
Win = 3 points
Loss = 0 points
Tie = 1 point
In the event that a team needs to play a 4th pool game in order to give a second team their 3rd game:
The 4th game will be identified and acknowledged with a ‘*’ on Tourney Machine
The 4th game will not count for any potential points or Goals Against for the team playing their 4th game
For the team playing their 3rd game, the results will count for points and goals against
In the event that there is a tiebreaker scenario, which includes a team's head-to-head being their fourth game, that has been identified with ‘*,’ the head-to-head will NOT be applied.
In the event, a team is declared a winner due to a forfeit
For ranking purposes, the goals against average for the pool play games will be the average of the games that were completed
Team A wins, 10-8 and 12-8, and then forfeit is 1--0. Their average of 8 GA will be used to rank

Tie Breakers
If 2 teams are tied with POINTS:
Head to Head
Goals Against TOTAL
Goals Against Common Opponent. If multiple common opponents, take the sum.
If more than 2 teams tied with POINTS:
If 1 team beats the other 2 teams - that team will advance and the second 2 will fall back into tiebreaker rules
Goals Against Total
Goals Against Common Opponent (only used if all teams played a common opponent. If multiple common opponents, take the sum)
Coin Toss/Braveheart
If a team is still tied after these tie-breakers and is eligible for the championship playoff bracket, a Braveheart may be used to determine who advances. The tournament director will determine the scheduling of a braveheart based on fields and availability

ROSTERING
All players must be registered and can only play for 1 team, unless approved by the event director, in each event.

Unregistered players are considered ineligible for play and if found may result in a team forfeiting games and player ejection from the event.

Any teams who are found moving players or playing with ineligible players may forfeit that game and possibly any others already played.

Procedure for Player Eligibility Challenge
Player eligibility challenge will only be accepted by Club Directors or Head Coach
When there is a player in question during a game:

The Field Marshall will alert the Pod Manager and provide the pod manager with
Team Player first and last name
Player jersey number
Pod manager will relay info to HQ for registration check
HQ will review the League Apps registration
If a player is:
Registered and within the age guidelines
challenge denied
Not registered but within the age guidelines
suspended until player is registered by a parent
Registered and outside of the age guidelines
Player removed from game immediately
Game will continue to be played
The tournament director will make decision on the future eligibility of the player and, if necessary to have the team forfeit the game
Not Registered and Outside the age guidelines
Player removed from game immediately
Game will continue to be played
Tournament director will make decision on future eligibility of player and if necessary to have team forfeit game

Weather Policy
In the event that weather affects the ability to play all games, the tournament director reserves the right to make decisions, including cancellation of games, shortening of games, or rescheduling of games.